A Wolf Among Titans
by aRandomPeople
Summary: Kakashi had never seen a titan before, but that was before he was assigned a mission to protect Eren Yeagar. What will Kakashi do as conflicts arise and secrets are kept? Can he learn to trust in this new strange world or will he fall deeper into the depths of his own memories?
1. Chapter 1

"Your mission- protect a boy named Eren Yeagar, don not revel your identity, and do not use chakra. Is this understood, Kakashi?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

* * *

Kakashi stood among all the military recruits, dressed in a tan jacket and with high riding boots. A red scarf covered his face and a black bandana covered his sharingan.

The fifteen year old shinobi glanced around with one grey eye at the _kids_ around him. Some were shivering, others were close to crying, it was...pathetic. Even some of the adults were peering nervously around, looking like they wanted to go home. Kakashi couldn't help but smirk. The brats were falling for the most basic of intimidation techniques, a couple well placed pauses and a bunch of yelling. In all his life, Kakashi had never seen a bunch of kids scared because of _one_ person. That said person was stalking across the dirt ground, observing each and every person with cold murderous eyes like a hawk.

The man (a soldier if Kakashi had to guess) stopped in front of a blond haired kid who was shorter than all the rest. The kid was pale, skinny and had blue eyes, which were wide with fear. "Hey you there, what's your name!"

Taking in a deep breath the kid replied "Armin Arlelt! Sir!" Drops of sweat rolled down his face and his knuckles turned white as he clenched them.

"Oh, yeah?! What are you here for ARLELT!

" TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS HUMAN VICTORY, SIR! Armin yelled his eyes blazing with a mixture of hope, fear and confidence all at the same time. The man nodded his head once before turning around and stalking off, searching for his next prey.

Kakashi snorted at the display. Old fashion intimidation, the rite of passage, whatever you wanted to call it. Basically it was to separate the soldiers from the wannabes. Apparently the boy Armin had passed, although Kakashi still doubted he would last a day in battle. For Kami's sake the boy was still trembling from the confrontation. What would the boy do if he was captured by the enemy? The silver haired shinobi pushed down the urge to take out his hidden kuni, instead he decided to study his charge.

His charge, Eren had brown hair, green eyes and was average height. He stood with confidence and had a glimmer of determination in his eyes. But there was something else too, underneath that confident exterior was something darker and more dangerous. Kakashi wasn't what had caused this darkness, but one thing was certain, the boy had seen death. Maybe not to the extent of a shinobi but it was there, lurking in the shadows.

The girl next to him, according to the mission info was Mikasa Ackerman. She had straight black hair and brown eyes, she also wore a red scarf scarf similar to Wolf's own. Her eyes were the same as Eren's if not darker and colder. Unlike Erens they held a deep intelligence and shone with undying loyalty towards the brown-haired and green eyed boy.

Kakashi assumed that, the girl was very protective of Eren by the way she kept glancing at him and no one else. Maybe the two were family? Wolf furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms. Mikasa would either be an asset on his mission or a nuisance. Only time would tell.

"You there! Who the hell are you?!" The soldier demanded as he stomped over to Kakashi.

the shinobi glanced over at the looming figure above him, the man was practically boiling with rage. Pushing his silver bangs away from his eyes gave a lazy salute before answering in a drawling tone, "Kakashi Hatake, sir."

"And why are you here, rookie!"

Kakashi inwardly laughed at the last word, he hadn't been called a rookie since he was five. "I'm here because I'm here, do I need a reason?"

It had gone deathly silent in the clearing. All eyes were trained on the silver haired shinobi who stared absently minded off into the distance. The soldier spluttered in rage with disblief. "W-what did you just say! Answer my question or I'll-

"Or you'll what?" Kakashi taunted as he narrowed his eye. He slowly took out his kuni, swinging it around his finger in a hypnotic motion. Kakashi allowed some of his killing intent to leak as the man in front of him started to sweat. Kakashi's lazy pretense, disappeared and was replaced with the cold, calculating glint of a professional killer. _Hmph, too easy, predator turned prey. _Realizing that he may have gone to far, Kakashi tipped his head to the side, all traces of killer intent hidden.

"Or you'll what?" He asked again in an innocent voice as the soldier stood dumbfounded.

"I-I...I uhhhh.."

"Thats what I thought." Kakashi exclaimed grinning at the man in front of him as he gave his eye smile.

"I...um..."


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi glanced up as Eren hovered over him.

"Can I sit here?"

"...sure" Kakashi replied and sighed when Mikasa and Armin ended up sitting next to him.

There was an awkward pause amongst the four- Kakashi stared at the ground, Eren looked at his hands, Mikasa stared off into the distance and Armin sat quietly eating his food.

Eren cleared his throat, "Your name is Kakashi? Right?

"Yeah" Kakashi said.

"What you did back there, that was so cool!" Eren burst out. "How did you scare the inspector so badly...he was speechless!"

"Um...", _act natural, what would a regular boy say? "_thanks I guess?"

Armin looked tentatively up at the two conversing recruits(Although Eren did most of the talking) He scratched the back of his head nervously trying to decide if he should voice his thoughts. Interrupting the two Armin slowly began. "What you did back there... I-I mean it was brave, but- you could have gotten in a lot of trouble... you should be more careful..."

"Oh Armin, I'm sure Kakashi would have been fine." Eren replied lazily. "I mean did you see the guy run... right Mikasa?

"uh huh."

The black haired girl answered in a short brief tone that revealed nothing except that she was bored by the conversation.

Kakashi found himself snorting in disbelief, again. For the exception of Mikasa, _the only smart one_, why were they all so friendly?

It was unnatural.

"Hey did you guys see the potatoe girl? A short boy exclaimed as he seated himself at their table.

"Yup", Eren replied. "She's been running for over five hours straight. Wow. Just wow."

The short boy, Kakashi dimly remembered his name to be Connie, leaned closer in and grinned at Eren.

"I can't believe she just stole a potato and then decided to eat it... Right in front of the inspector! And then she offered him a piece, thats like asking to die!"

Eren laughed at his comment, "The whole thing about running till near death didn't get to her quite as much as the moment she was told to skip lunch."

Kakashi groaned softly as another person joined the table. How could they all be so happy when war raged behind the walls they called home? ANUB never acted like this…

A sharp pang rippled throughout Kakashi's body as a familiar black haired ucuhia flashed across his vision.

_"You don't understand what's really important about being a true ninja!"_

_Back then, I thought Obito was weak... a crybaby, anything but a shinobi. A shinobi was a tool, nothing more and they could be replaced just as easy. In my eyes a true shinobi always followed the code. The mission was of the most importance and nothing came before it. _

_It wasn't until Obito's death… It wasn't until I saw him crushed beneath that boulder; it wasn't until he sacrificed his life for mine that I realized the answer._

_"Kakashi...I-I never got you a present...d-did I? Take...take my __sharingan. I can be your eyes...we'll watch the future together."_

_Teamwork...was the answer._

_And it was all MY fault! It might have well been me that killed him. I should have died...I didn't deserve to liv-_

"-kashi, Kakashi? Hello? Anybody in there?"

Kakashi blinked in surprise. He glanced up at the five people staring back at him. _Dammit, the mission! _

"Oh...I'm _fine_", Kakashi said, forcing a smile (not that any one could see, cause of his scarf) on his face before scratching the back of his head. "I guess I must've spaced out."

"Are you sure? I mean you kinda looked a lit-"

"I'm **_fine_**." Kakashi said, this time more forcefully, letting some killer intent seep into his words.

The only one who seemed unaffected was Mikasa who continued to eat her soup. The others stiffened as the room turned about five degrees colder.

"So..." A black haired boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat before asking, "Where are you guys from?"

Eren slung both his arms over Armin's and Mikasa's shoulders. "We're from Shigan-shina."

Erin and Armin suddenly became grim and they visibly slumped against each other. Mikasa, although not quite as obvious stared off into the distance and looked as if she was remembering something unpleasant.

"Armin, me and Mikasa all lived there until we were twelve...before moving to the landfill."

Frowning behind his scarf, Kakashi puzzled over the sentence. Something must have happened to them, something when they were twelve. Whatever happened back then, Kakashi concluded, was probably the reason why Mikasa and Erin had seen death, it was why they had that look in their eyes.

_Or it could've been something else, seeing that I know nothing about my charge._

Apparently everybody else was oblivious to Erin, Armin and Mikasa's change in mood.

Connie's eyes lit up in disbelief. "Thats mean you were in Shingan-shina the day it happened! Did you see it? Did you get to see the Colossal Titan!"

Reluctantly Eren answered as Armin looked down at the floor. "...Yeah...We were all there."

People turned around and crowded the table, bombarding Eren with questions.

"For real!"

"How big?"

"What did it look like?'

Eren had seemingly recovered from before and was trying his best to answer all the questions. "It was mostly skinless, with a huge mouth."

"What about that armored titan broke through Wall Maria? Did you see it?"

"I saw that one two." Eren said, "But despite the name it just looked like a regular titan-"

"Well then-" one of the boys exclaimed, "-what does a regular titans look like?"

Eren froze and a dark look crossed over his face. He clenched his spoon and held his hand over his mouth. Shuddering he tried to begin, "I-I..."

Concerned faces looked at Eren and Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the scene. _I remember. Titan attack, approximately twelve years ago...what did Eren see?_

"Sorry, must've reminded you about a lot of unpleasant stuff..." Connie blurted out. "I mean, it was a massacre."

"Hah!"

Everyone froze as Eren continued. "Wrong!" Tearing off a piece of bread violently he slammed his hands on the table. "Titans...they aren't such a big deal when you come down to it. Once we get our 3-D maneuver gear, they'll be nothing against us!"

Kakashi snorted and everyone turned to face him. "Are you really naive?" Eren whipped his head towards the silver shinobi in rage. "What do you mean?!"

Leaning backwards against his chair Kakashi crossed his arms in front of him. "Do you really think that's true?"

"Of cours-"

"Then, tell me why-" Kakashi asked, "-why are we still hiding behind walls?" _Lets see how he'll react to this..." _Why is the human race, even after one hundred years, still cowering behind walls?"

Scowling Eren looked at Kakashi. "Why did you even join the military if thats what you think! How dare you disrespect the soldiers who risked their lives to protect us! Who gave up their lives to protect us! What do you know of sacrifice!"

Kakashi could only stare at Eren as memories came flooding through his mind.

What do you know of sacrifice...

What do you know of sacrifice...

_Father who gave his life up for my __future..._

_Obito, who sacrificed his life for me..._

_Rin who gave her life for her friends... _

_Minato-sensei who sacrificed his life for the village..._

_The thousands of nameless shinobi and ANUB..._

_What do you know of sacrifice..._

_I know plenty._

Kakashi glanced coldly at Eren and the people surrounding him.

Reining in his memories he sighed and raised his hands in surrender. Besides, Kakashi thought, despite how naive everyone here was, it wouldn't do to have his charge mad at him. It would just make his job harder.

"Maaa.." Kakashi exclaimed, scratching the back of his head. "I never meant to offend you. Sorry."

Erin blinked in surprise before smiling. Everyone sighed in relief as tension eased in the room. "It's all right. I'm sorry too, I guess I was a bit to eager to fight. Lets forget about it, friends okay?"

"Friends." _Yeah right.  
_

* * *

"First thing, lets see if you're for something! Just tie the ropes to both sides of your waists and hang from there! Use your full body belts for balance!"

"Those who can manage that might be able to not become titan food! Those who can't, we'll send you back to the landfill where you belong!"

Kakashi hung lazily on the harness and watched as people around him struggled to keep their balance. He swept his vision across the field, across Connie, across Armin, across Mikasa, across the trainers, until it landed on his charge.

That said person was hanging upside down.

Leaping out of the harness Kakashi grabbed Eren and pulled him upwards, right before Eren's head hit the ground.

He tossed the startled fifteen year old onto the ground and bent down, examining the harness.

"WHATS THE BIG IDEA!" One of the trainers yelled as a crowd of people circled around Kakashi and Eren.

Kakashi got back up slowly and gestured at the harness. "Faulty equipment," he stated. "The metallic fixtures on Eren's belt are broken. Normally it goes up to your waist so that even if you're overturned, your head shouldn't hit the ground. Right? If I hadn't been there Eren would have hit his head on the ground, rather hard if I must say... and he would have failed the aptitude test."

The trainer gaped at Kakashi before looking at Eren's harness. "You're right...Mr...?

"Hatake. Kakashi Hatake, sir."

Kakashi helped a rather grateful Eren to his feet before turning around and heading back to camp.

"YES!" He heared Eren scream, and Kakashi couldn't help but notice Eren glare at Mikasa. Mikasa looked away, slightly startled and her eyes darkened with sadness.

Stepping closer, Kakashi heard Armin say, "If that look on his face isn't triumph, I don't know what is!"

"Thats not it," Mikasa said bitterly. "He's thinking about he won't have to stay close to me anymore, and it makes him happy."

Coming up from behind them Kakashi asked, "Why is he happy about that?"

Armiin yepled in in alarm at Kakashi's surprise visit and Mikasa stiffened at the sound of his voice.

The black haired trainee spun around glared at the silver haired shinobi. "Why do you care so much about Eren! I can protect him... I don't need your help."

"What if he doesn't wan't your help?" Kakashi asked calmly.

Looking away, Mikasa didn't answer and Kakashi walked away from the two.

_Once I complete the mission, I can leave._

People streamed out of the field as practice ended. Kakashi looked around at the empty clearing and then down at the mission scroll in his hands.

_Rin..._

___Armin_

_"I-I mean it was brave, but- you could have gotten in a lot of trouble...you should be more careful..."_

_Obito..._

___Eren_

_"Lets forget about it, friends okay?"_

_Me..._

_Mikasa_

_"I don't need your help."_

_Minato-sensei..._

_"I can protect him."_

_Why do they remind me of Team Seven? Why, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei?_

_Why does it hurt so much?_


End file.
